Online retail giant eBay opened its first physical store in New York during this holiday season. According to WWD, the 5,500 square foot eBay store run for just a few days from November 20th to 29th, during the busiest shopping season of the year. The store housed the most popular items as well as high-end fashion items. The huge selection of fashion items included the following: Norma Kamali’s exclusive fashions, L.A.M.B shoes, Michael Kors handbags, Dooney & Burke bags, Anthropologie dresses, M.A.C. cosmetics, etc. Other popular, hot items like electronics, toys, home and garden tools were also sold during the period.

The opening of the physical store was celebrated on Nov. 19. And the big day for retailers—Black Friday also saw fervor of consuming in the store. To help boost the sales, limited numbers of “daily deals” were given to the first 100 shoppers who came to the store.

eBay is well noted for its prominent role in online retail. Is this brick-and-mortar store of eBay a herald of a new shift in online retail? As retailers came to realize the need for more creative solutions to the current stagnant sales, it is likely that the gap between online and offline retail will get more blurry. For consumers, presumably items displayed in online stores might get just more “touchable”.

Having been an online business dealer, you may be considering moving offline and opening a retail store. However, without any retail or one-on-one sales experience you may find it hard to start. Here we would like to share some retailers’ experience.

1). Do retail shops have to purchase all their inventory ahead of time or are there any situations where the stores can stock inventory and pay later down the road? Such as once it’s been sold?

It all depends on the norms for the particular industry. The most general case is that retailers pay for their goods on 15 or 30 day terms. New retailers may find it difficult to get lines of credit from some vendors, and may be stuck paying by credit card or COD (cash on delivery).

In some industries, allowing unsold inventory to be returned is the norm, in others it never happens.

At the beginning, you should try some samples to see whether your supplier is reliable and the whole buy-and-sell flow flexible. As your business grows, try more samples and increase inventory to diversify your product lines.

Keeping a balance between your products in stock and the speed of capital flows will lower your business risk.

2). Where do most everyday local retail shops get their products? From wholesale distributors or manufacturers?

It depends on what industry you are in. In some industries, goods are received directly from the manufacturer and in others, the manufacturer prefers to deal with distributors. Read More

Archives

Archives

Content Disclaimer:
All text and photographs provided on this site is for informational purposes only. DHgate is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis. Reader discretion is advised before making any decisions based on the information from this site. No compensation will be awarded for any loss, inconvenience and/or damage from information obtained from this site. Opinions and viewpoints expressed in this blog are entirely personal to the author. Trademarked names, logos and other proprietary information quoted on this site are property of respective companies/owners and are mentioned here for reference purposes only. Precautions have been taken to protect third party identities. If you see content on this site that belongs to you and wish to have it removed, please send your request to
blogadmin@dhgate.com.

Blog Page Disclaimer

All data and information provided on this site is for informational purposes only. DHgate makes
no representations as to accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information on
this site and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any
losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an
as-is basis. Reader discretion is advised before making any decisions based on the information
from this site. No compensation will be awarded for any loss, inconvenience and/or damage
from information obtained from this site. Opinions and viewpoints expressed in this blog are
entirely personal to the author. Trademarked names, logos and other proprietary information
quoted on this site are property of respective companies/owners and are mentioned here for
reference purposes only. Precautions have been taken to protect third party identities. If your
name or photo has appeared on this site and you wish to have it removed, please send your r
equest to prc@dhgate.com.